The Indian Racing Festival will head to Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida on 31 October and 1 November, bringing FIA-level competition back to the venue after a 13-year gap. The weekend, Round 4 of the 2026 season, will be the first appearance of India’s homegrown marquee league at the circuit, which previously hosted the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix. Buddh International Circuit will host a second round on 28 and 29 November before the season ends with a night race in Navi Mumbai on 5 and 6 December.
The return to Buddh International Circuit is the most notable part of the revised 2026 calendar announced by the Indian Racing Festival. Racing Promotions Pvt. Ltd. (RPPL) chairman and managing director Akhilesh Reddy said the calendar showed the ambition to take Indian motorsport into new spaces while raising the bar for the quality of competition and the experiences created for fans. “The Buddh International Circuit and Navi Mumbai are two developments that we have envisioned for a long time, and after all the hard work that has gone into bringing them together, we are delighted to finally share them with our fans,” Reddy said.
Racing weekend at Buddh International Circuit
The Buddh International Circuit famously hosted the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix from 2011 to 2013. With the F4 Indian Championship an FIA-certified championship, the October weekend will mark the first time FIA-level competition has returned to the track in 13 years. The circuit’s long, fast sections and technical corners demand precision in braking and corner entry, and for young drivers the track tests tyre management, racecraft and consistency rather than outright pace alone.
Both championships in the festival will race at Greater Noida. The weekend of 31 October and 1 November hosts F4 Round 4 and Indian Racing League Round 2, while 28 and 29 November host F4 Round 5 and Indian Racing League Round 3. The two Greater Noida weekends give the championship two rounds at one of India’s best-known permanent circuits before the street-circuit finale.
The F4 Indian Championship has already completed its opening two rounds at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Aris Kyriakou leads the standings with 93 points after consistent podium finishes, ahead of Luviwe Sambudla on 88 points. Kyriakou recorded two second-place finishes and a victory in Round 1, while Sambudla secured two wins in Round 2. Hyderabad Blackbirds driver Bhuvan Bonu won the remaining race in the second round. The championship then headed to the Madras International Circuit in Chennai on 22 and 23 October, where the Indian Racing League also made its 2026 season debut.
Racing calendar runs to a Navi Mumbai night finale
The season will end at the Navi Mumbai Street Circuit on 5 and 6 December, with the finale staged as a night race near Palm Beach Road. The dedicated 3.69 km street circuit runs along Palm Beach Road, with an anti-clockwise layout including 11 turns. It will be the festival’s second night race, following its first-ever night race in Chennai in 2024, and it will bring high-speed action into an urban setting, taking the championship beyond a traditional permanent circuit and bringing it directly to audiences in the city.
The Navi Mumbai Street Circuit was initially scheduled to debut in 2025, but that plan was postponed to 2026. The finale there will host the final rounds of both the F4 Indian Championship and the Indian Racing League, making it the decisive venue for both championships. All rounds are streamed live on JioHotstar and shown on Star Sports in India, according to the calendar announcement.
What the Buddh weekend means for the season
The calendar announcement also confirmed that the series will not race at the Goa Street Circuit this season. That leaves four remaining race weekends in the revised calendar: Chennai on 22 and 23 October, Greater Noida on 31 October and 1 November, Greater Noida again on 28 and 29 November, and Navi Mumbai on 5 and 6 December. The two Greater Noida weekends sit in the middle of that run, and they arrive at a point in the season when the F4 title fight is close, with five points separating Kyriakou and Sambudla at the top.
For Indian motorsport, the Buddh weekend is different from a regular round. The circuit has not hosted FIA-level single-seater racing since the Formula 1 years, and the festival’s arrival there puts its drivers on a track with a longer history than the series’ regular domestic venues. The first cars run at Buddh International Circuit on 31 October, with the second round to follow on 28 November and the Navi Mumbai night finale on 5 December.